Bang Bang
by InnocentGuilt
Summary: The ultimate flaw in the plethora of human flaws is that we think we know what the person standing next to us is thinking. In a drunken game of guilt and reconciliation, who really loved who? R/S, Language, Slash


Disclaimer: le sigh Lets see how long of a list I have. I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Marlboro cigarettes (That's the kind I will be mentioning vaguely down yonder), Pepsi, Kool-Aid, or Pop Tarts. I'm not sure if I have to list all that but all of that is specifically named or hinted at in this, here, story.

Pairings (In order of appearance.): Sora/Selphie, Demyx/Larxene, Axel/Roxas, Sora/Riku or Riku/Sora. I'm not sure about the last one, because I intended this to be a Riku/Sora, but as I wrote it, it turned into a Sora/Riku, and I just got so confused, so I don't really think there's a seme…just go with what ever one fits in yon head.

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Parties were the totally hip thing in Destiny Islands when you entered high school. They were so cool. You could drink, smoke, have sex, get high, play mindless games, such as darts, pool, and other variations. You could trash someone's house, and let them clean up, because it was there fault for fucking throwing a party, right? You could pass out, throw up, fall down, start fights, commit suicide, and no one would care; they were way too drunk. You could listen to…decent music, depending on what house the party was thrown at; you could break things, steal things, loose things without a care in the world. You could…walk around completely bored off your ass, like Sora was doing.

Like Sora was always fucking doing.

With a glass of 'Pepsi' in his hand, he wandered around Axel's house; one of the best houses to have a party at…it was sooo nice. He would molest this house if he could, but he couldn't, said redhead would kill him. It had nice music, which made it fucking orgasmic to be bored at. He was sure Selphie was somewhere around here, and Sora was desperate_ not_ to find her, in fact, beyond desperate not to find her. She was hell at a party, and he didn't think he could take it tonight. He would be one of the people committing suicide, and there had already been one at this house…Axel would have a meltdown.

Sora glanced around carefully for Selphie, looking for that streak of green that she had recently put in her hair, and when he found none, he dashed upstairs quickly, noticing the change of carpet from impeccable cream, to dusty rose. Peeking around the upstairs, taking in the swelling number of people forming several circles of eight or nine, but no green stripe, he quickly grabbed a full bottle of vodka, which some drunken fool had probably forgotten about, off the wide banister, of all places, and went off in search of someone to hide him. He found someone with no problem at all, of course. He knew everyone in Destiny Islands, and everyone liked him. He could have probably been a serial killer and they would welcome him into their house with a fucking smile. He shook his head, clearing all thought out of his mind, before walking up to Namine.

"Sora!" she said, loudly, draping herself on his shoulder, her other hand reaching out to steady them both on the mahogany polished wood. "I am incredibly drunk!" she said with a large smile and a sweet laugh, giving light wrinkles at the edges of her unnaturally youthful face, and making her eyes shine midnight blue, the edges of her eyes sparkling sandy lavender.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, taking in the feel of her soft white dress that felt like the palms of her hands after she had put scentless lotion on, and held out his new found bottle of vodka. "Want some more?" he asked with a grin, glancing around to make sure no green-streaked, hairspray-tamed-hair, pixie-faced Selphie was going to jump out of nowhere.

She laughed, holding her hand to her heart, her delicate pink nail polish, which would look the color of her skin if it were any lighter, sparkled in the light. "You would do that?" she asked, with glowing eyes. "For me?"

He looked at her through quizzical eyes. "Maybe not anymore," he said, with a show of fake concern, his eyebrows crinkling, and a forced frown carving deep lines into his cheeks. "I think you may be just a tad to drunk for this." He swung the bottle away from her, feeling the liquid slosh about gently, dancing and reflecting the poor light that the fake candle lights put out in the hallway.

"Come on!" She giggled, reaching up on the tip-toe of her sensible rosy pink high heels. "Don't torture me!" Her small fingers grasped for the bottle held in his tanned, short fingers. He held the bottle above her head, watching as she used his shoulders as leverage, and blessing the fact that he was that few inches taller than her, and that even putting as much weight on him as she could, it was still that few inches above her reach.

He smiled at her, kindly, the bottle still above her head. "This your last one?" he asked holding his vodka just out of reach, and keeping it there easily, since a match could out wrestle Namine.

She looked at him with a pout, her pretty pale pink lips jutting out pathetically. "Maybe?" she said, eagerly, her wide eyes looking into his with a display of innocence, hoping it would weaken his already weak defenses.

Sora laughed at the game they played at every party, before shrugging. "It's good enough for me," he said, shaking his head, monotonously, pouring more alcohol into her outstretched cup. "Not too much more," he said with a side ways hug to her, forcing her left shoulder into his right pectoral with enough force to surely bruise him the next morning, but that's what he got for not paying attention. "You have to spend the night with me tonight, and I don't want my mother waking up," he warned with a faux glare that said he would readily give her a sleeping bag and make her sleep on the porch.

She took a sip of her vodka, daintily, gazing up at him, adoringly through her brown eyelashes. Afterwards, she smiled up at him, patting his shoulder lovingly. "You're, like, the bestest friend a girl could ever hope for," she said seriously, but it was made less impressive by the way she swayed a little, her hands flying wildly about her, her drink nearly falling over the edge of the crystal-like glass. She regained her balance with a laugh, waving him off, since he had already began taking steps away from her.

He wandered around the hall, aimlessly, talking to random people and looking around for the amazingly absent Selphie. He passed what he recognized as Axel's bedroom, noticing the group of people in there, 

doing nothing but lounging. He would stop and chat, but he had a feeling the Selphie was upstairs and if he idled for too long, she would surely find him. So, he tried to scoot by without anyone noticing him.

"SORA!" Wakka yelled from inside the room, waving his hand as an invite for him to join them.

That was hard to do with Wakka in the room. You see Wakka was a big mouth, and wanted to talk to everyone in the universe when he was slightly tipsy, so it was impossible to escape. Much to his dismay at the moment, Sora was indeed a member of the universe right then.

Sora sighed, with a slight smile, walking across the hall, cradling the vodka carefully so it wouldn't slosh around when he ran into people he was too carefree to dodge as he crossed the hall into the poorly lit grunge style room. He entered, with a shake of his head at the slob quartet. "What are you lot doing in here?" he asked suspiciously, pouring Tidus a glass full of the vodka when he held his penguin decorated coffee cup out expectantly.

Hayner smiled, goofily, taking a puff from his halfway gone cigarette. "We're hiding from Ollete," he said in a conspiring whisper, having leaned in closer to Sora, and cupped his hand around his mouth. "Ollete can't find her way upstairs, so here we are." he finished to Sora, as Tidus made room for him on Axel's rumpled bed, with evil white sheets; so easy to stain.

Sora hiked his eyebrows in an 'aha' expression, his lips parting slightly. Taking a swig from his bottle and trying not to cringe at the aftertaste, he looked around the small group of five, including himself. Giving them piercing glances, he braved to ask, "What were you all talking about?" This was a group of guys, after all.

They all stared at him blankly, their eyes saying nothing at all. They looked at each other for help, and then to Sora for help, as if he had been there the entire time. No one was saying anything, which was par for the course since the party had been going for almost three hours now, and many of the people were too blitzed to even remember their name or if they were actually humans. Finally Pence shrugged. "We have no honest clue," he said, embarrassedly, clutching his temples by his fingertips. "I can't remember anything that's happened to me within the last…however long it's been since I last remember something."

They all laughed at the usually well-composed Pence, Wakka and Hayner slapping him on the back good-naturedly. Sora took a cigarette from the red-topped pack in the middle of their group, where everything was collected on the ground for communal use, placing his nearly full bottle of vodka there in its place. He took the lighter that was handed to him from Tidus, gratefully, flicking the old, used so many times at so many different parties, orange lighter he lit his cigarette, keeping the smoke in his mouth, but not inhaling for the fact he didn't like the itch that always tickled the back of his throat when he did. He stared down at Axel's forest green carpet, noticing the burn spots that Axel himself had probably created in his several attempts to melt something together in his latest inventions and trophies.

The quintet didn't say anything during the time it took for Sora to waste one of his cigarettes, dumping his ash onto a paper plate that one of the other four boys-close-to-men-in-his-mind had brought in since Axel himself did not smoke. They sat in an alcohol induced silence, as they had drunk half of the bottle in ten minute time span. When he had finished, he grabbed his slowly emptying bottle, giving it a pitiful frown when he picked it up. He took a swig from it, still making a face at the aftertaste and braving the thought that maybe he would go to the kitchen and get something to chase the taste with before he stomped it out at the thought of Selphie finding him. "Well, boys!" he said with grandeur, and a lavish bow. "I'm going to continue on my journey." He stepped between Pence and Wakka, making sure not to bump into either of them for fear that they might fall.

"If you see Ollete, we're in the kitchen," Tidus said from behind him.

He stopped at the doorway of the room, his hand resting on the white-painted door. "If you see Selphie, you didn't see me," he said in a tone that begged no argument, though he didn't need to tell them that. They would probably forget he was their in five minutes, besides, but just incase. He held his right index finger up to his chapped lips, and robotically, they all did the same.

With their vow of silence in his mind he took off again, down the many hallways of Axel's house, stopping occasionally to spend a brief moment gazing at a photo of a particularly young and nerdy looking Axel. On his way, he stopped by Yuffie, a college girl who came to every party she could find for lack of anything better to do, and asked for a bottle of Pepsi, seeing as his cup had mysteriously gone missing when he had happened upon the vodka. Graciously, she said yes, though he could see why when he saw her collection of ten full two liter bottles on and around the hallway table behind her. With his bottle of Vodka in the back pocket of his baggy jeans, he took off again down the hall, thankful for his belt that held his pants snuggly around his hips despite the heavy bottle.

He passed the upstairs living room, where he heard the usual group that occupied the house, with or without the party, so he had heard, talking about someone, unknown, and he wouldn't have stopped to listen, had it not been for the unusual voice in the room, Kairi. Normally, only Axel, Riku, and a group of other odd and, labeled, 'outcasts' were in that room; however, Kairi was very popular, and even when drunk took to hanging around him, Roxas, his cousin, or Namine. His sandaled feet stopped walking on their own accord, and refused to move, even though he did not want to eavesdrop on their conversation, thus he leaned against the wall casually, his face lax as he took a sip from his personal two liter bottle of Pepsi.

"You know, Sora could just be staying with her…you know. He's a softy. He can't be mean to anyone, let alone break someone's heart," Kairi said, unconfidently, and Sora could just imagine her shrugging her shoulders, making her collarbone protrude from her body, and her sensible gray, light jacket that she wore to every party wrinkling around her neck.

Sora braved to sit down, and peak around the corner, seeing a well worn leather couch across from the television at the far wall of the room, on which sat Kairi sitting very close to Riku, whom he recognized by his silver hair, turned gold in the lamplight shining from next to the windows, and Roxas. On the arm of the couch, next to Roxas was Axel, whose hair draped across the back of the couch, and onto his 

cousin's shoulder. In the armchair, left of the couch, was Demyx, with his joint in one hand while he tuned his sitar, and his girlfriend, Larxene, who had a hell of a temper, sitting in front of him, filing her nails and listening to the conversation with rapt. On the right, where there was another armchair, and a collapsible chair pulled in from the deck, sat Xigbar, and Xaldin, respectively. Neither appeared to be listening, both of them looking mostly passed out except for the odd body twitch that Sora could catch with the naked eye.

Riku inhaled his cigarette, Sora could see the curl of smoke wafting up from his head, twisting and dancing in the light until it dissipated sadly in the heights of the room's ceiling fan. He shook his head from side to side, nearly hitting Kairi's a few times from her position of looking up at him. "You don't know Sora like I do…did…? Whatever," he snarled, his words, slow and slurred; his hand waving in the air as if to shove his confusion off of him. He was incredibly drunk; it was easy to see even by the way he shook his head, 'no'. But that wasn't what caught the brunette's attention. It was the mention of his name from slurred, and, probably by now, numb lips. He craned his head further into the room, hoping to hear more, because Riku's tone was exceedingly low, even for Riku, and Sora, himself, almost couldn't hear him. "He's nice, and all. He doesn't like being unkind…but he doesn't keep what doesn't make him happy."

Taking a sip of his rum, Riku smacked his, by now, red-tainted lips. He held a hand up to his forehead, feeling the heat that all drunkards felt, and wiped away the imaginary sheen of sweat. "Why do you think I'm here? I wouldn't hang out with you losers voluntarily," he said with an easy smile, the one that didn't meet his eyes, leaving them cold, and empty, much like he claimed to feel everyday of his school life. From the position Kairi had twisted her neck to look, piteously, up at Riku, Sora could see the pained light in them, causing her young face to age ten years, with the worry lines, and wrinkles that instantaneously appeared.

Sora stood then, shaking out his jeans, and rescuing his vodka from its place on the brownish-pink carpet where it had fallen out of his pocket while he was sitting. He heaved a guilty sigh, taking another sip from his two liter, before twisting the cap back on. He began in his quest to get nowhere, slowly, again, getting just out of earshot after he heard Larxene snarl, "Riku, you're such an asshole," with mirth winding through every syllable.

He stopped in a person-free room, one that would remarkably like an office if it weren't lacking a desk and chair, but everything else was there, the computer, printer, filing cabinet, and liquor cabinet. He walked to the darkest corner of the room, away from the stream of hallway light let in from the still open door. He set his vodka and Pepsi on the ground next to him, and pushed his feet out in front of him, his sandals barely staying on his feet at the angle they were at. Scratching the back of his neck, before he leaned against the painted sheetrock, which flattened his hair to odd angles and made his head ache in an odd way, he sighed heavily.

Of all the conversations his feet just had to stop working on, it would have to be that one. Guilt pooled in his gut, creating an unsavory feeling that felt like he was going to throw up at any moment, so he clutched his stomach tightly, bringing his feet that he had just kicked out back up so he could hold them 

to his stomach, in a fetal position. He rested his head against his knees, his hair springing back to its original position, and then squeezed his eyes together tightly.

He hated hearing people talk about his once best friendship with Riku, now distant memory that hurt too much to dig up. It made him realize how much of an asshole he was to Riku when he had completely stopped being friends with the older teen, how blind he had been to turn him down then. Now he was stuck, continuously trying to escape the hell he had let cling to his arm for the last two years, Selphie, whom at the time was a sure light in his eyes, but was now no more than a sore on his ass. He had chosen her over Riku, because it was easier, not because it made him happier, and look where it had gotten him…in a dark room, hiding from the devilish girl, and feeling self-pity for something he had brought upon himself. Such a thought was absolutely enraging, and he proved so by throwing himself violently against the wall behind him, continuously beating his head against the wall, until he whined, quietly, to himself, about the headache he was getting.

He shook his head, and picked himself off the ground again, still not wanting to be found by his…by Selphie, and her odd green streaked hair. Putting his Vodka into his back pocket again he picked up his Pepsi and began another trip around the upstairs, talking to no one at all, save Yuffie, who asked for a swig of his vodka, since she had so lovingly given him an entire bottle of her not-so-rare-and-hard-to-come-by Pepsi. Once he was sure his safety on the second floor was up, he headed back downstairs again, glancing around nervously, as there were less rooms, and hallways to dive into if he saw that green flash of horror.

He hurriedly dodged into the game room, where Axel kept all of his game stations, and his parents kept a pool table, dartboard, and yet another liquor cabinet. Vaguely he noticed the animal heads hanging ominously from the wood-panel walls, but he chose not to linger on those for fear of nightmares. As he actually looked around, though, he quickly realized that he was not alone, and that he had not been recognized as having entered the room.

Seifer and Namine were studying the pool table, while Denzel was leaning over it, scoping his next move. Seifer tapped his rod, impatiently, smearing blue chalk dust all over his thumb, having already decided his next move and promising to ring Denzel's neck if he fucked it up. Denzel sighed, standing up straight, moving to the far side of the table, putting his free hand on his chin, indecisively, shaking his head, disappointedly, he moved again to his right, pissing Seifer off even more, and causing Namine to giggle at a humor only she had been keen enough to notice.

Seifer sighed loudly, clearing his throat, still glaring daggers at Denzel, who had given up looking for a shot and had come to stand beside Namine, a thoughtful gleam in his hazel-yellow eyes. He folded his hands on top of the rod, resting his chin on those. Sora was still undetected in the room, and rather liked it being that way, as he watched the three interact. His peaceful, live theatre was, however, interrupted by a loud, "Hey! Have you guys seen Sora?" from just outside the doorway, which caused Sora to jump behind the liquor cabinet, out of sight from the bodiless voice that belonged to Selphie, and from the trio who seemed to be playing pool to the naked eye, but were actually only pissing Seifer off. The three 

of them snapped their attention to Selphie, who had just entered through the doorway, looking at the three of them with expectation and contempt, as if they were hiding Sora up Namine's skirt.

Seifer sneered, a usual mar on his, voted, pretty face. "No. We're not his baby-sitters today," he bit at her, causing her eyes to bulge in incredulity.

She put her hands on her hips, her foot tapping in anticipation, her green hair making her bulging eyes even more noticeable and irritating, and apparently Sora wasn't the only one to notice, as Denzel, a usually very nice, and well-to-do boy, also glared, his lips twisting into a grimace. "Stop glaring, Selphie," he demanded, harshly. "You're wasting precious time. Your puppy might be stolen out from under you nose as you wait for Seifer's non-existent apology."

Selphie's eyes cut to him in shock, just as momentarily invisible Sora's did, but he neither backed down, nor apologized as he would have had he been more sober. Sora would have applauded him then if it weren't for the fact that would give him away, and he was rather keen on her not knowing where he was. Selphie's eyes shot to Namine's as though she were the bane of all evil, and in Selphie's head she probably was, as she spent the night at Sora's house nearly every weekend, but Namine just gave her an apprehensive once-over, meeting her harsh, cold emerald eyes, with her starlit, midnight blue. Then, with a slight incline of her head, Namine nodded in agreement with Denzel, giving a very un-Namine smirk when Selphie turned on her plain white tennis-shoes and left the room with a huff.

Denzel shook his dirty blonde hair away from his face as he picked up the pool rod and chalked it again, giving a very loud sigh. "You know…there are days where I just wish that Sora had taken Riku's hand when he offered it," he said as he viciously slammed his pool rod into the cue ball, slamming it into a solid green ball, with a number Sora was too far away to catch.

It would fucking figure they would pick up on this conversation while he was still beating the metaphorical living shit out of his metaphorical self. He scoffed, as quietly as he could, listening as Seifer asked, "You know why he didn't, right?" He smirked at Denzel, coming around the table to make the shot he had planned out before Selphie had burst into the room. Sora was still undetected, though he had an inkling Namine knew he was standing behind the liquor cabinet. Her ear had twitched when he had moved to do so, but seeing as she hadn't directly looked at him he assumed he was in the clear and continued to listen to the vial conversation with a masochistic rapt about him.

Denzel rolled his eyes, expressively, staying heavenward for a long time afterward as he said, "Because Selphie was in the room. It's his greatest downfall." He glared at the perfectly executed shot of the white ball with an orange stripe into the far right-hand corner. Heaving a dramatic sigh, he staggered to the table again to once again, meticulously scope out his next shot. But the rest of his thought was not lost, unfortunately for Sora, as Kairi's earlier thoughts were echoed via Denzel. "He can't hurt anyone."

Namine scoffed, loudly, begetting both boys to look at her in astonishment. She stepped angrily to where both of the boys could see her clearly, glaring at them mildly for their obvious stupidity. "Everyone keeps saying that!" she said unbelievingly, throwing her left hand into the air, while her right went to rest on her hip, in the typical pose of an upset woman, left pink heel extended dangerously and 

everything, while the bright light above shined a righteous glow upon her. She looked at the two of them with pleading eyes, begging them to suddenly pick up on what she had known all along, then, when they didn't, she smiled sadly at them. "Does no one notice Riku?"

Sora bit his bottom lip hard, looking up at nothing while once again thinking to himself that it fucking figured that she would bring that up. Wobbling his head around on his shoulders his gaze came to rest on the wood floor with regret shining in his normally bright blue eyes, though now they were losing the glow and fading a dark blue, with grey flecks in them, which Kairi found to be stunning and often told him reminded her of the ocean. He snapped his eyes shut, blocking out any chance of his eyes welling with tears; his jaw locked tightly to the point that his teeth hurt, but he thought it was fair after what he had done to Riku. He pushed off the wall, blindly, setting off with a plan forming in his mind, as he left the room unbeknownst to every occupant, even the close to sober Namine.

Shouldering his way threw the drunken mass of dancing bodies; he made his way through the living room, which, when all the furniture was pushed against the walls, doubled as a dance floor, towards the kitchen.

The kitchen itself was very typical, white walls, with blue décor, spanning even to the checkered curtains hanging over the lovely windows, that surprisingly enough had never been broken in this house. In fact, if Sora recalled correctly, nothing had ever been broken in Axel's house, not even one of his mother's crystal vases that were always left out in the open, invitingly. The kitchen was mostly empty, save for a few people that were hanging around the refrigerator, looking for something non-alcoholic to drink, but only finding several bottles and jugs of different flavored Kool-Aid, which Axel was scarily addicted to and was almost never found without. He relished the fact that Selphie was not in the kitchen, but the fact was that he did need to find her. He would have gone in search for her, had it not been for the fact that, as he turned around to leave through the open passage to the kitchen, a very distraught, and windblown Ollete smacked right into his chest.

He steadied her, saving her from falling straight on her ass, and noticing the forlorn pout on her kind features. "Hey! Have you seen Hayner and Pence, and all of them?" she asked; her eyes clouded with confusion as she searched around the kitchen for her friends with desperation clouding her face. She looked back up to Sora, her green eyes, shades lighter than Selphie's, like rolling plains of grass in mid-summer, met his own, belaying the message that she was totally lost, and more than likely too high to realize that while everyone kept saying her friends were in the kitchen, she should probably take a gander everywhere else in the house instead of just this one room. "Everyone keeps saying they're in the kitchen, but I'm in the kitchen and they are very obviously not here." Her eyes watered; her emotions made more accessible by the fact that she was most like drunk, and perhaps a little high.

He took pity on her, breaking the vow that he had made with the boys upstairs, for the good and noble cause: he didn't want to see her cry. "They were in Axel's room last I saw them," he said while giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

She sniffed up at him, her eyes clearing instantaneously. "Thanks, Sora." She smiled at him, her teeth accentuated with the whiteness in the kitchen. She spun on her heel, pulling Sora with her since his 

hand was still on her shoulder. She left the kitchen, just as Sora fell to all fours on the floor, hitting his knees hard on the white tiles.

While getting up from his lowly position on the floor, someone else entered the kitchen, and Sora could see from the plain white tennis-shoes, that it was just the person he had three-quarters been trying to find, a quarter still trying to hide from. From his position on the floor he could see her foot tap impatiently, and could definitely see, even if he wasn't looking at her, the glare she was casting at him for having run off without her, and afterwards, hidden from her for the better part of three hours. His plan so far was working well; Selphie was pissed as hell at him. Sora smiled to himself and pushed off of the floor, making and exaggerated show of stumbling into her.

She pushed him away with a snarl, sending him spiraling around in the middle of the kitchen. "Sora! Are you drunk?" she demanded, gathering the attention of all those in the room, who had more than likely, been standing around just waiting for a fight.

He staggered around a moment, gaining the momentum to spin around before grabbing the counter to steady himself. He looked at her with guarded eyes, hoping that she would not catch onto his act, which she wouldn't; he had been acting for the better part of two years. He looked her over with a drunken air wafting about him. She was red-faced, her green eyes as hard as emeralds, with her hands on her hips, while her foot tapped impatiently. He shot her an easy grin, leaning against the blue marble counter in the fashionable 'cool' pose, with his arms folded over his black t-shirt and his ankles crossed in front of him. "Maybe," he said, airily, leaning his head towards his left shoulder, as he forced out a girlish giggle. The crowd let out a small round of chuckles, when Sora did this, quite accustomed to the drunken act Sora often displayed, but never before having witnessed him giggle femininely.

Selphie glared at them all, hatred shining in her wide, evil eyes, willing them all to shut up and go away, but when they didn't she turned her attention back on him, daggers shooting from her eyes in hopes to kill him with just her looks. "I hate you when you hang around these people," she growled at him, her finger jutting out to point at the growing crowd that had pushed into the kitchen to see the two fight amongst themselves. "You become a drunk, slobbering, foul-breathed, smoking asshole!" she said huffily, her chin jutting out in finality, while Sora wobbled around the kitchen, woozily, hands outstretched before him as he fell into random people, who helped him up with amused smiles, and pats to the shoulder.

However as he heard her claim of hatred, he suddenly lost the swagger in his step, coming to stand up straight and walking with a sure step towards her as his plan hit its crescendo. He leaned on the doorframe, in front of her, his oceanic eyes, regaining their glow, as he leaned in close to her, so no one else would hear them, and with a cold glare, he hissed, "If you 'hate me' when I'm around these people, find someone more willing to bend to your will."

She looked rebuked, and her eyes lost the hard edge that had been lodged only moments ago. Her shoulders sagged, as she looked down to her hands, which she had recently begun to wring. Sora had never snapped at her before. All of their arguments were done with her being volatile, and him being subservient to get out of the argument that much quicker. "You don't mean that," she finally said, 

though it was clear in her voice how unsure she was of the statement she had just spoken as she toed the white tile nervously, kicking around a dry piece of mud. She cleared her throat and looked up to him beguilingly. "You're drunk. Tomorrow, you'll come to your senses," she said with resolution in her voice, as she looked back up at him with glowing green eyes.

He smiled that kind smile, which made Selphie sigh in relief and break into a giddy grin herself, but his eyes were still hard, as they continued to stare her down, shame bubbling in his chest at having stayed with someone he absolutely detested for so long. "I've only really been drinking Pepsi, Selphie," he whispered, leaning down next to her ear so he was sure she would be the only one who heard him. "The vodka I'm sure you saw me with was for communal use." He shrugged at the stunned look on her face. "You know I only like an occasional sip."

Tears pooled along her lashes, and her lip quivered, as he took steps away from her back to the center of the kitchen far from where she could reach to hit, kick, or bite him. He stationed there until she ran from the room in grief, and the crowd they had gathered dissipated. When they had gone from the room, after Sora had vaguely heard the very enraged Larxene shout, "Demyx, you asshole! Are you proposing to me…while you're fucking high?" he meandered over the counter next to the sink, resting his Pepsi and vodka on the counter where he next jumped on top of to sit. There he sat, trying to figure his next move out in his head. All wasn't going well as he had planned. After the initial leaving of Selphie, he was unsure of where to go, all to do with the fact: he hadn't honestly thought that he would get as far as the leaving of Selphie. Now everything was all pear-shaped in his head; he couldn't think any straighter than a hoola-hoop.

So, of course, it would be then when his thoughts were interrupted, and a very drunk, very unstable Riku clawed desperately onto the kitchen entrance, clinging to it for support, as his head wound shakily on his neck. He groaned, irately, his face screwing in pain while he spun shakily to lean against the doorframe on his back, his hands clutching his head, in an effort to will a headache good-bye. When he was ridded of his headache, or it was apparent that he wasn't going to win it over, Riku sighed and lifted his head up. He looked around the kitchen with raised eyebrows, taking in every single detail his hazy, empty eyes could absorb, from the toaster to the dirt clod that Selphie had earlier kicked around. "This is a nice bedroom," he said, finally, with an approving nod of his head.

Sora snorted, "Riku…it's the kitchen," he said, waving his hand around lavishly.

His eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Oh!" he said, taking another good look around the kitchen. "Then…that's what's with all the pots and pans and," His nose twitched in apprehension. "…the microwave," he said shaking his hand, adorned with gaudy rings, at the stainless steel box, jingling as his bracelets clanked together. He stared at said box intently for moments on end, giving it a right and proper thrice over.

In this time, Sora had plenty of time to really look at the Riku his once-dearest friend had become. It wasn't a far cry from the one he had left in his home classroom, those years ago when they had been fifteen, near sixteen. He was maybe two inches taller; his hair was resting gently against his shoulder blades, whereas two years ago it had barely brushed his shoulders. His right ear was now completely 

filled with piercings, while in his left there rested an industrial piercing that he had gotten their junior year. But other than that, his face was still as cold as it had been; sure his cheeks had hollowed out a bit, but so had Sora's. His shoulders hadn't broadened anymore; his eyes weren't different; if he had been close enough for Sora to touch, he was sure his heart would have beat with the same above average, fast thump that it had two years ago.

Riku sneered at the microwave and turned away from it, deciding it obviously wasn't worth his time and his head swiveled drunkenly to Sora, his hair whipping around his shoulders furiously. Quirking an eyebrow, he took uneven steps towards the refrigerator, his worn tennis shoes hitting the pristine tiles harshly. Slowly he meandered to his right, finally making it to the stainless steel doors and yanking it open. He stuffed his head inside and dug into the back, pulling back with a bottle of whiskey in his hands.

He unscrewed the lid, throwing it away since the bottle was about three quarters empty to begin with. "So," he began as he eyes his alcoholic prey, "Where's your lesser half? She isn't clinging to you like a growth." He took a deep swig of the amber liquid, not even flinching at the harsh taste of it. "It isn't like her to leave you unattended. And, all in all, is rather not normal." He turned his head to look at Sora, his eyes focusing solely on the brunette.

It was then that Sora noticed. God, he had never seen it before, but now he felt blind for having not recognized it. He looked at the man across the room from him, whose eyes were burning into his, and it was only fucking then that he had noticed! Man, how could he have missed the cavernous voids the led to Riku's core? He couldn't make out reflections that were normally cast in others' eyes. His eyes were bottomless, and cold. Sora could only make out one thing in them. So much loneliness.

"I broke up with her…?" Sora choked out, his voice nearly stuck in his throat from the bleakness in his former friends eyes. Bleakness, which he had caused.

"Bad idea, buddy," he said taking a deep breath. "Baaad idea." He stumbled to the counter caddy-corner to Sora's and, after having set the whiskey down, leaned heavily on it, forcing his head into his free hand. "My head…" he murmured painfully.

Sora passed him a pitiful glance, but didn't let go of the conversation they had been in, however brittle it was. He hadn't gotten this far in the plan, but it seemed like a great idea to take this route. He felt like maybe, finally, he could rectify the absolute mess he had made of everyone's life. Hopping off the counter, he took baby steps toward Riku, keeping his distance though, knowing that even drunk his presence probably wasn't completely wanted. "I thought that's what you would've wanted," he mumbled meekly.

Riku leaned his back against the marble pressing both hands into his eyes sockets. "Why would you say that?" he said in a slurred whine. The pain was surely getting to him. Riku never whined at all. "I thought you loved her."

Pain lanced him through his heart, taking no mercy on him. It was actually so painful he had to clutch his chest. "No…not really," he said, looking down at the ground, taking in how immaculate the tile grout was, even after years of existing under peoples' dirty shoes. It was still white, just as white as the tiles around it.

"Why'd you stay with her so long then?" He picked up the clear glass bottle of whiskey, not taking a drink but inhaling the fumes it gave off. He looked to be having problems keeping his eyes open, and he swayed dangerously, leaning heavily against the counter, which by now had to be digging harshly into his back.

"I'm…not sure," he said, taking steps toward Riku, his nervousness getting the best of him. He shook with the feeling, as he took two steps forward to touch Riku's shoulder, concerned that if Riku didn't have support the man would surely be well-acquainted with the floor in no time. "I thought there was no one else. I thought I had pushed you too far away." It wasn't the honest truth. He didn't actually know why he had stayed with her for so long, but it had nothing to do with Riku until moments ago when his flaws had been brought into harsh light by his friends. But it was better than saying he honestly didn't give a toss about what he was doing. That he just kept on with her because she was there.

It wasn't exactly moving.

Riku flinched from his touch the moment he had uttered those words, though. With the movement, he swayed perilously, looking at Sora confusedly. "Oh…I need to lie down," he breathed, taking woozy steps away from Sora. His knees bent like play dough, and he sank to the floor, bracing himself with his unsteady arms. And then, finally, he sank to the floor, his head to the left, staring at the people who passed the door completely unaware of the kitchen's habitants. "This floor feels soo good. It's so cold. So…It's nice." He shifted on the tile moving his arms to rest under his head.

He stared at the passerbys' with absent awe lighting his hollow eyes. Sora took the brief moment in time to admire the tile in comparison with Riku's pale complexion and silver hair. With the bright luminous light casting over the room Riku's hair glowed in ethereal beauty, his skin reflecting almost peacefully from the white tile. He was the perfect depiction of…oh, lord…

"Have you ever thought about dying?" Riku asked, loudly from the floor. He closed is eyes, and Sora's breath almost stopped in his throat. He looked… "I think about it all the time. Just…dying." He took a breath and held it in his lungs, and in that moment it was almost like a picture burning itself into Sora's memory.

It would figure he would bring this up. Especially when he looked akin to death.

"I know you blame yourself for whatever you did, but it was soooo my fault," Riku chuckled humorlessly, and Sora felt his skin crawling at the way the conversation was turning. Because he didn't blame himself…or he hadn't until about an hour ago. It was odd to him that Riku would think that way of him. "I wanted so desperately to get away from you…I just ran. But…let me tell you! You're a helluva lot 

harder to forget. You lingered in my poor brain," he slurred drunkenly, and his hand went to his temples, as if squeezing his traitorous brain. "Thus all…the…" He stared at the counter with confused eyes, staring at the whiskey bottle that was barely visible to Riku.

"Drinking," Sora finished for him with a helpful nod.

Riku acknowledged him only by continuing on with his dialogue, speaking tonelessly, hollowly as if he had read it all. He spoke like he had made this speech in his mind many a night before this one, probably doing self-analysis, probably trying to uncover what was so wrong about him that Sora wouldn't want him. He spoke without having any hope left in him at all as he said, "It makes it easier to…" Yet, still he faltered finding all the flaws, in understanding what was so wrong about him.

Sora finished for him again, knowing why Riku would drink so heavily, and what it would make him do. "Forget me," he said painfully, his heart constricting at the thought of his once best friend wanting to leave his image in the dust.

A lazy smile twisted his lips and Riku chuckled without any real laughter left in him. "Live with your memory. I was gonna say: Live with your memory," Riku smiled mournfully. Twisting around to lay on his back instead of his stomach, he stared up at Sora with his dull, empty eyes. He tilted his head this way and that, his bangs covering his eyes from left way and right.

Even with the bangs covering his eyes, Sora felt uncomfortable, feeling as if clear aquaria eyes were looking through him and not at him. Not really. Sora felt immobilized by such a stare, by fear, guilt, and the ever nagging presence: disgust. Riku had pined for him, truly pined, and Sora was pretending that he understood what it was like. He only understood selfishness, and he had a feeling that Riku was not oblivious to that fact, yet still he pined.

"You're drunk," he said with finality, pointing out the obvious to help escape the oppression that those eyes seemed to have on his lungs. "Come on…let's sober you up. You look like you could up-chuck at any moment."

Riku threw his arm over his eyes jerkily, groaning out pathetically. "I don't want to," he said, the slurred words now muffled by his arm.

Sora sighed, leaning over in preparation to help Riku off of the floor. "You need to," he retorted.

His mood drastically changed as Sora leaned down to help him up. As soon as Sora touched his bicep, Riku wrenched away. "I don't need your pity!" He spat angrily. "I don't need anything!"

Sora was startled by Riku's sudden and unreal mood swing, but was persistent. He hauled Riku up using every single muscle in his body to heave the other's dead weight from the floor. He struggled with Riku through the dissipating crowd, most of them leaving for home or for another party, hoping to drink themselves sober. He meandered, wrestling Riku into the bathroom that was just off the dance floor/ living room, until he finally had Riku in the bathtub, struggling to get out as Sora turned the knob to cold and pulled the lever for the water to run out of the shower head.

Riku screamed as the cold water collided cruelly with his body, and he scrambled even harder to get up, to get out, to get away, but he was too uncoordinated. His limbs flailed but he only fell and hit his head repeatedly, and Sora tried to pay it no mind as he pulled shut the curtain and left to go find the owner of this house.

Thankfully, finding a six foot five inch redhead in the middle of regular sized people was not hard at all. Axel stuck out like a poodle in the midst of rat terriers, standing a foot taller than everyone he was saying goodnight too as they passed out of the house. He was the only one out of his group who was a.) in the house or b.) downstairs. Sora made his way over to him quickly, listening to his own breathing and the sound of his sandals as they moved across the wooden floor seemingly of their own volition.

"Hey, Axel!" he called as soon as he was about five feet away from the tall red-headed man.

He turned to face him, looking down at Sora with his unusual acid-green eyes. They flashed a moment of recognition, but he feigned to not distinguish who he was as he said, "Oh, hey…Sora? Sorry I'm not good with any name but my own."

Sora rolled his eyes, annoyed with the self-involved prick, and realizing why he, personally, never spent any time with him. But he was indulgent as he snapped, "Yeah, whatever. Look, Axel, I need two cigarettes, an entire bottle of aspirin, a loaf of bread, and a pitcher of lime Kool-Aid."

Axel raised a long, thin brow at his snappy tone, asking incredulously, "How do you know I have all this shit?"

"Axel! You're fucking my cousin," he growled with a sneer. "I practically know your social security number."

He seemed to think on this for a moment, his face taking on discomfort as he mulled it over and over in his head. Finally, he said in and uneasy tone, "Oh that is a terrifying thought. I am going to get you those things, before my life is sold on the internet."

Sora clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man. I'll be in the bathroom," he said, already walking back towards the bathroom, where Riku was, surely still throwing a fit as he struggled against the icy water, demanding over his shoulder, "No alcohol."

"Sure thing," Axel said, giving a distant thumbs-up.

He was half-way back to Riku; he could here the man's yelling and screeching and fumbling already, when Kairi stepped up beside him, grabbing him by the arm and halting him in his movement.

"Sora! Where are you going?" she asked as she moved to block his path. Her eyes were worried, and her face was tight across her bones. She looked high-strung, especially in the way her hands were wringing in front of her too-thin body.

"To the bathroom," Sora said cautiously, jabbing his finger towards the door that led to said room and wondering why such an air would be hovering around his best friend, "Riku's sobering up right now."

He started to move passed her, but she grabbed his arm in a close to painful manner, stopping him in his tracks as she asked him in a deadly serious tone, "What are you doing with him?"

Shocked by such a question, he looked around the room nervously, stuttering out, "I…I…"

Kairi cut him off sharply, "I heard about your break-up with Selphie…don't do anything stupid." Her eyes were demanding and pained at the same time and her lips had drawn into a thin line after she told him that.

"What…?"

She stomped her tennis-shoe clad foot on the ground with a distress. "Don't tell him that you wanted to take his hand. Don't profess undying love to him, or anything of the sort! Promise me!" she begged him, taking his hand into hers.

He yanked his hand away from hers, reflexively, not accustomed to this version of Kairi and therefore not entirely sure he wanted to make contact with her. He stared at her as if she had lost her mind, or was drunk out of her mind, which was ridiculous because she had stopped getting drunk after the first party they all went too. Nonetheless, she was not behaving as herself, and Sora asked, uncertainly, "Kairi, have you started medication without telling me?"

"He's not who you remember from your childhood memories, Sora!" she continued, her eyes traveled over his face, begging him to give into her. "He's cold, all the time. He doesn't feel anymore. He's not_ real_ anymore."

Sora shook his head emitting a small scoff. "I'm not going to profess undying love to him, Kairi. I'm just helping him out," he said firmly. He saw a flash of white blonde hair from the corner of his eye. Namine! He was supposed to take her home with him…He debated on whether or not to patch things up with Riku, or to keep his promise to Namine. Suddenly, an idea clicked in his head. "Will you take Namine to your house?" he asked Kairi, who still stared at him with pained eyes. "I don't think I'll be going home anytime soon and I think she's tired."

She nodded, disappointedly, disbelievingly as she stepped away from him. She stepped out of his way and looked around the room for the blonde Sora had mentioned. Said girl, woman, was over by the game room entrance talking to Denzel and Seifer still. Sora watched as Kairi let an easy grin come over her face with the effortlessness that came from being forced to smile too often. "Namine?" she called out, jogging over to her friend, grabbing the other's hand with fake enthusiasm. "Come on! We have girl things to talk about."

"OH! Did I tell you about Demyx's proposal to Larxene? It was so sweet. I was in the room when it happened!" Namine yelled, always loud when she was drunk as opposed to the silence she kept around her when she was sober.

"Really? Me too!" Kairi said just as enthusiastically, tugging her away from her small group of friends. Kairi didn't give him a final glance. She didn't even tell him good-bye. She dragged Namine out of the house as if they were the only two on earth.

Sora sighed, shaking off the odd conversation he had just had with his friend. He didn't need to have that hovering over him when he was with Riku. Riku by himself would be enough if he kept up the way he had so far in the re-acquaintanceship. When he felt secure in the fact that he had rid himself of her haunting words, he practically ran back into the bathroom, where Riku was still screaming, cursing, and flailing about in the tub. He opened the curtain again and when Riku saw him, he splashed cold water on him.

"Sora, you little shit!" he yelled through clacking teeth. "Turn this fucking water off now, or so help me god…" his threat was cut off as Axel ducked under the doorway and into the room. His arms were loaded with everything that Sora had demanded over him, and he threw it all into the sink, pausing only to cast Riku an odd look as the lunar-haired man yelled, "Axel! Axel, help! He's trying to drown me!"

Axel laughed, a truly disturbing thing seeing as Sora had never heard Axel actually laugh. "Dude, I'll come to your funeral. Right now, I've got a pretty blonde in my room waiting to kick my ass for the mess some goons left on the floor." Sora neglected to mention the four goons he knew to be the culprits of the mess. "You know I love the abuse," he called as he stepped out of the room again, giving a flick of the wrist as his way of good-bye.

"Bastard!" Riku hollered after the man, gripping the side of the tub in anger. He was still too drunk too even make a move to shut off the water, so he splashed his feet around and made a general mess of the green tiled flooring in the bathroom.

Sora sat down on the toilet seat cover, grabbing the lever that turned the shower on or off and he gave it a sharp yank. The water stopped and Riku's screams quieted for only a second before he rounded on Sora, looking murderous. Before he could even open his mouth to utter any sort of hatred, Sora yank the lever again, and the cold water was back on and slamming into Riku's skin. The yelling instantly resumed at full force, along with the thrashing and throwing water all around the room, but mostly at Sora. They continued such a pattern for a while, until the monotony began to affect Sora.

He pulled on the lever, turning the shower on. "Are we having fun yet?" he asked, as he once again switched the water on.

"You fucking little prick! Stop," Riku demanded, his voice strained with anger and frustration. Sora did…for a moment.

Sora shrugged, getting another splattering of cold water thrown against his shirt. His skin reacted instantly to the shock and to retaliate he turned the water back on. "We stop when you turn the water off," he said simply.

He heard a scrambling in the tub, but Riku's legs wouldn't properly do as he wanted. "Damn it! Sora! I can't!" He heard Riku's several rings hitting the bar on the side of the tub, soon followed by a loud 

crashing, causing Sora to flinch, but pull the lever once again. "Fuck!" he shrieked, banging his head against the wall behind him. "By the time I get the fucking…thingy off, my face will have frozen."

"Now that is the most unfortunate thing I've ever heard." Sora said, once again reaching for the lever.

More time passed them, and soon Riku's shouts and protests became silence. Sora let the water run continuously now, having let go of the lever for it to dangle by his head. He now rested with his elbows on his knees, listening to the water run and wondering just what the fuck it was he was doing. He had told himself he was helping Riku, but once he got passed that…what did he intend for to happen? He honestly didn't think Riku would be interested in having a sit down heart to heart when he was sober. He barely had heart to hearts when he was drunk. There was no way he would listen to Sora. Even if he did, there was nothing Sora could say. There wasn't an excuse for the passed two years, nothing other than selfishness.

He didn't think there was anything he could do to patch this up, but he more than wanted to try. He was ready to give whatever a second try. He was willing to give anything a second try, a first try, any try…he just wanted to have Riku's eyes glow again, and carrying on with his selfishness, he wanted to be the reason it was there. He wanted Riku to come back to himself, but looking at the person lying in the tub, staring at the ceiling with dead eyes, he wondered how far he would have to put himself on the line to even begin getting Riku back.

In the midst of his thoughts, a voice croaked from the tub, "Sora?"

"Hmm…?"

"Will you at least turn the water to warm?"

"Yeah," Sora said, turning the knobs to mostly hot yet still warm, he pulled the lever, hearing a soft moan of appreciation.

They were again cast into silence once more, though, this time it seemed a little more peaceful. Sora didn't lose himself in his thoughts, but stared blankly at his surroundings, the shades of green and the gold and ivory accents. He spared a glance at Riku every now and again, but the man in the tub seemed almost asleep, which saved him the agony of wondering what to say, but did put a damper on trying to fix anything between them.

He put his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes, wondering what to do.

Startlingly, Riku's frog-ish voice broke into the silence again, telling him calmly, "I know why you did it. I just don't know what triggered it. You were so content to live around her, to be with her, even when it was suffocating you."

Sora took a moment to figure out just what the hell he was talking about, when he remembered suddenly, 'Selphie!' He had all but forgotten about her. He supposed that was a true testament to how 

devoted he had truly been to her. He hadn't been without her claim on him for an entire day, and already he was forgetting about her.

He sighed, bracing himself for what he was about to say. He didn't know how drunken Riku had been when he said it, but he hoped this would sound original, when he said, "I've never been good at keeping what doesn't make me happy."

At the scoff the fell from Riku's lips, Sora realized he wasn't that lucky. He looked up to see Riku smiling cynically, glaring at him from his place under the water. "You heard my sap story so…you turned into the hero again?" he asked coldly. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I gotta say, that's really fucking romantic."

"I heard you…" Sora agreed and stalled at the same time, wracking his brain for something—anything!—to say. "I heard you so I realized the mistake I made. In our sophomore year-"

"In our sophomore year, it wasn't_ cool_ to be gay," Riku snapped, condescendingly. "You go with the flow as much as you can without loosing yourself. It's why you're at every party, but you're carrying the drinks, not getting drunk. It's why you puff but don't inhale. It's why you kiss closed lip with everyone you kiss while you're 'drunk', and even with Selphie! Did you ever slip her tongue?" He scoffed at the wild eyed stare Sora was giving him. "I tried to forget you. You made it hard, so I gave into it. I went with the flow and absorbed_ everything_ you did."

Sora looked down at his hands, feeling ashamed of himself once again for what he had done to his best friend, a person that, at one point in time, could walk on water in Sora's eyes. He said the first thing that came to mind, thinking of all the true things Riku had figured out about him, and vaguely wondering who else had seen through his guise, "I didn't know I was that bad of an actor."

"You're not," Riku said simply. "I'm just that obsessed with you."

Sora snapped his head up too look into Riku's eyes; his eyes, which now showed with longing as he stared straight back at Sora with a grief-twisted face. It was abruptly clear to Sora what road he should take with this. It was the same road he should have taken two years back, when Riku had first asked for him. It was always supposed to be Riku and he realized this as he found himself walking towards the door that had been left open by Axel.

With a quiet 'click,' the solid oak door slipped into its frame. Sora found himself gathering his nerves for a moment, before he turned and made his way back to Riku, kicking his sandals off along the way.

One foot into the tub, and Riku said in a quiet voice, "I shouldn't let you do this."

"Yeah. You really should."

The second foot in, and Sora tensed before relaxing under the warm water still shooting from the shower head.

"You'll regret it."

"You need to get to know me all over again. And I think you should start by letting me stay here with you tonight. I'll bring me, you bring yourself. We'll learn each other all over again," Sora said giving a soft smile as he leaned down, centering himself between Riku's knees. His face hovered over Riku's, and they stared into each other's eyes.

A cold glint in his eyes went unnoticed by Sora as Riku whispered, "I want the universe from you."

"Then, take it."

He had broken Riku that much was obvious with the very first kiss. He had struck the first and the hardest damaging blow to the image, values, and beliefs that Riku had shrouded himself in. Sora could fix it, though. Sora could save him. He could build Riku back up, good as new and even better…

Sora could fix it.

Sora could fix it…

Sora woke on the bathroom floor the next day, alone. Riku was nowhere to be seen. He looked in the tub, around the corner of the bathroom, around Axel's house…nothing. He vaguely noticed that Riku's keys were gone, and that his wet clothes had been left uselessly in the dirty laundry hamper. Still, he continued his search, trying to coerce others into helping him look for the person he had spent the night with.

He checked Riku's house, but his mother said that he had never returned home from last night. He looked in all the places he knew to be some of Riku's favorite places to be. He had searched most of the island.

Riku was gone though…

On the door, the back one that he happened to pass while he went to search the laundry room had been a note. He never found it, but, if he had, he would have immediately recognized the font as Riku's small, sharp handwriting. Sora never found it but Axel did, before any of the party's stragglers had awoken when he was having Pop Tarts and a glass of Kool-aid. At the time, he didn't think much of it; Riku wrote depressing things like that all the time. No need for worry. As the days turned to weeks, the weeks to months he would realize the mistake he had made in not making a big fuss over the note, written on a ripped piece of yellow paper.

Riku had been swallowed by the misty morning shoreline. He had been reclaimed by the sea that gave the island life. He had disappeared just as the sun had glinted across the water, blinding them all with its brilliance and leaving them dazed with dark spots blotting out certain visionary perspectives. He had only been a ghost, a specter glowing brightly in the darkest time of night, only to disintegrate into thin air as the light peaked over the horizon.

He hadn't been there for quite some time…

_In the end, it isn't the loneliness that kills you…_

_It's the emptiness._

"I told you he wasn't the same, Sora," she whispered to her friend as she hugged him awkwardly around the middle. "He died a long time ago, when you first shot him down. We've been seeing only a ghost of him, a mirage of the boy who used to know how to smile."

"He left, Kairi. It hurts. It hurts so bad."

"Yeah…That's what heartbreak does."

_He had never really been there…_

&

A/N: So, uh, you'll probably notice that in the pool scene I kept using the term "rod" or "pool rod". It's because I have absolutely no idea what it's called. My mother told me it was actually called a "pool stick", and I was like, "that's so uncool I can't even think straight." So it was so deviously changed "pool rod," as you saw in the actual scene. If anyone would like to fill me in on what it's called, I'll say I'll change it in this story, but most likely I'll only keep it in mind for other stories and to make myself sound cool on nights out. Sad, but complete truth.

Anywho, I've been working on this, here, story for quite some time now…I actually wrote more than half of it six months ago and it has since then been waiting for me to get off my lazy ass and finish it. Tonight was that night!

I'm rather proud of it actually. I think I pulled off the right amount of hope and angst and there towards the end tragedy.

InnocentGuilt.


End file.
